Eye Status Based on Eyelid Detection: A Driver Assistance System

Fatigue and driver drowsiness monitoring is an important subject for designing driver assistance systems. The measurement of eye closure is a fundamental step for driver awareness detection. We propose a method which is based on eyelid detection and the measurement of the distance between the eyelids. First, the face and the eyes of the driver are localized. After extracting the eye region, the proposed algorithm detects eyelids and computes the percentage of eye closure. Experimental results are performed on the BioID database. Our comparisons show that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art methods

Comparación de fórmulas chilenas e internacionales para valorar el arbolado urbano

Ponce-Donoso, M (reprint author), Univ Talca, Fac Ciencias Forestales, Casilla 747, Talca, Chile.The appraisal of urban trees is a practice adopted in diverse cities of world. This survey compared international formulae: Council of Tree Landscape Appraiser (CTLA), Burnley, Helliwell and Standard Tree Evaluation Method (STEM) and three Chilean methods applied in municipalities of Concepcion, La Pintana, Maip (COPIMA), Nunoa and Penalolen, in 14 different trees located in Talca city (Chile). The objective was to identify the differences and similarities of the monetary result in the application of these formulae, which was realized by a professional. These were analyzed using a non parametric variance test of Kruskal - Wallis and the multiple comparisons Duncan test. It was possible to determine that the Chilean formulae did not present statistically significant differences with the international formulae of Burnley and CTLA; whereas Penalolen and COPIMA formulae did not present any difference when contrasted with Helliwell. In addition, the STEM formula presented differences with all the Chilean analyzed formulae. In the valuation by tree, statistically significant differences were obtained, which showed the independence of the used formula. The exception was when being applied to emblematic species or to species that stand-out in some amenity. Likewise, it was observed that the basic value continues having a high impact in the appraisal final result and the use of the statistical test applied allows extending this type of analyses

Eye status based on eyelid detection a driver assistance system

Fatigue and driver drowsiness monitoring is an important subject for designing driver assistance systems. The measurement of eye closure is a fundamental step for driver awareness detection. We propose a method which is based on eyelid detection and the measurement of the distance between the eyelids. First, the face and the eyes of the driver are localized. After extracting the eye region, the proposed algorithm detects eyelids and computes the percentage of eye closure. Experimental results are performed on the BioID database. Our comparisons show that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art methods. Document type: Part of book or chapter of boo

Emoting infertility online: A qualitative analysis of men's forum posts

Relatively little research on infertility focuses exclusively or significantly on men’s experiences, particularly in relation to emotional aspects. Evidence that does exist around male infertility suggests that it is a distressing experience for men, due to stigma, threats to masculinity and the perceived need to suppress emotions, and that men and women experience infertility differently. Using thematic analysis, this article examines the online emoting of men in relation to infertility via forum posts from a men-only infertility discussion board. It was noted that men ‘talked’ to each other about the emotional burdens of infertility, personal coping strategies and relationships with others. Three major themes were identified following in-depth analysis: ‘the emotional rollercoaster’, ‘the tyranny of infertility’ and ‘infertility paranoia’. This article then offers insights into how men experience infertility emotionally, negotiate the emotional challenges involved (especially pertaining to diagnosis, treatment outcomes and their intimate relationships) and how they share (and find value in doing so) with other men the lived experience of infertility

Measurement of the Luminosity in the ZEUS Experiment at HERA II

The luminosity in the ZEUS detector was measured using photons from electron bremsstrahlung. In 2001 the HERA collider was upgraded for operation at higher luminosity. At the same time the luminosity-measuring system of the ZEUS experiment was modified to tackle the expected higher photon rate and synchrotron radiation. The existing lead-scintillator calorimeter was equipped with radiation hard scintillator tiles and shielded against synchrotron radiation. In addition, a magnetic spectrometer was installed to measure the luminosity independently using photons converted in the beam-pipe exit window. The redundancy provided a reliable and robust luminosity determination with a systematic uncertainty of 1.7%. The experimental setup, the techniques used for luminosity determination and the estimate of the systematic uncertainty are reported.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figure

Measurement of shower development and its Moli\`ere radius with a four-plane LumiCal test set-up

A prototype of a luminometer, designed for a future e+e- collider detector, and consisting at present of a four-plane module, was tested in the CERN PS accelerator T9 beam. The objective of this beam test was to demonstrate a multi-plane tungsten/silicon operation, to study the development of the electromagnetic shower and to compare it with MC simulations. The Moli\`ere radius has been determined to be 24.0 +/- 0.6 (stat.) +/- 1.5 (syst.) mm using a parametrization of the shower shape. Very good agreement was found between data and a detailed Geant4 simulation.Comment: Paper published in Eur. Phys. J., includes 25 figures and 3 Table

LPMLE3 : a novel 1-D approach to study water flow in streambeds using heat as a tracer

We introduce LPMLE3, a new 1-D approach to quantify vertical water flow components at streambeds using temperature data collected in different depths. LPMLE3 solves the partial differential equation for coupled water flow and heat transport in the frequency domain. Unlike other 1-D approaches it does not assume a semi-infinite halfspace with the location of the lower boundary condition approaching infinity. Instead, it uses local upper and lower boundary conditions. As such, the streambed can be divided into finite subdomains bound at the top and bottom by a temperature-time series. Information from a third temperature sensor within each subdomain is then used for parameter estimation. LPMLE3 applies a low order local polynomial to separate periodic and transient parts (including the noise contributions) of a temperature-time series and calculates the frequency response of each subdomain to a known temperature input at the streambed top. A maximum-likelihood estimator is used to estimate the vertical component of water flow, thermal diffusivity, and their uncertainties for each streambed subdomain and provides information regarding model quality. We tested the method on synthetic temperature data generated with the numerical model STRIVE and demonstrate how the vertical flow component can be quantified for field data collected in a Belgian stream. We show that by using the results in additional analyses, nonvertical flow components could be identified and by making certain assumptions they could be quantified for each subdomain. LPMLE3 performed well on both simulated and field data and can be considered a valuable addition to the existing 1-D methods

Performance of fully instrumented detector planes of the forward calorimeter of a Linear Collider detector

Detector-plane prototypes of the very forward calorimetry of a future detector at an e+e- collider have been built and their performance was measured in an electron beam. The detector plane comprises silicon or GaAs pad sensors, dedicated front-end and ADC ASICs, and an FPGA for data concentration. Measurements of the signal-to-noise ratio and the response as a function of the position of the sensor are presented. A deconvolution method is successfully applied, and a comparison of the measured shower shape as a function of the absorber depth with a Monte-Carlo simulation is given.Comment: 25 pages, 32 figures, revised version following comments from referee

Luminometer for the future International Linear Collider - simulation and beam test results

LumiCal will be the luminosity calorimeter for the proposed International Large Detector of the International Linear Collider (ILC). The ILC physics program requires the integrated luminosity to be measured with a relative precision on the order of 10e-3, or 10e-4 when running in GigaZ mode. Luminosity will be determined by counting Bhabha scattering events coincident in the two calorimeter modules placed symmetrically on opposite sides of the interaction point. To meet these goals, the energy resolution of the calorimeter must be better than 1.5% at high energies. LumiCal has been designed as a 30-layer sampling calorimeter with tungsten as the passive material and silicon as the active material. Monte Carlo simulation using the Geant4 software framework has been used to identify design elements which adversely impact energy resolution and correct for them without loss of statistics. BeamCal, covering polar angles smaller than LumiCal, will serve for beam tuning, luminosity optimisation and high energy electron detection. Secondly, prototypes of the sensors and electronics for both detectors have been evaluated during beam tests, the results of which are also presented here.Comment: Technology and Instrumentation in Particle Physics 2011, Chicago, IL, USA. Presented June 11, 2011, and submitted to Physics Procedi